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Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Okay! Musume Digest #24

Let's DIGEST!!!

Welcome back to the weekly Digest for more News! This week has been pretty fantastic in terms of Idol activity. A lot has gone in, PV's have been released and I have actually reviewed! YAY!!! I aim to at some point this week do a review for Cabbage Hakusho if I can be bothered, but we shall see how that turns out, and hopefully a single review...

It totally depends on my lazy meter, really!!! xD

Anyway, in other random blog-related news, I have updated the layout once again! The theme is pretty obvious, and it's also very noticeable which PV/Idol has inspired me this time around with the futuristic/robot theme. I wanted something simple and different to what I had done before, and so here it is! Make sure that you don't get an error, now!

Anyways, I am tired, so I will go right into the first section of the digest, which just so happens to be the:

Video of the Week

This week's video is...

Let's get all! by N Zero!!!

This weeks video was a suggestion via my facebook after I asked people what their favourite video has been. This PV is by N Zero, formerly known as AKBN0, who have recently released this video titled Let's get all! It's cute in both tune and video, with adorable shots of the girls in cute costumes, playing around with balloons and dancing around happily. It is your average Idol affair when it comes to the PV and song, however it is extremely cute, and the video has a higher quality to it than I expected. N Zero are really growing I think, and I would like to share this video with you all so that you can experience the cuteness of these girls and to perhaps fall in love with them and their new song like the person who suggested this to me has.

So yeah, take a look and enjoy guys!

And now let's take a look at the poll result for this week!!! (There will be a lack of Satoyama Life this week, sorry D;)

Poll Winner!!!

This weeks winner is Morning Musume's latest single, Wakuteke Take a chance, with 46% of the votes! This Halloween PV shows the girls off in a more, er... mature and effective way with LED lights, tables and garbage bag dresses! Yeah!!!

Well, I do agree that the song is pretty good guys, and the real PV itself is really good, I love the editing of it, the fire and the tables... I'm sorry I never reviewed it. I guess I just got a little lazy? Er, a lot lazy, I mean... haha! Anyway, the PV is good, but the lights wash out the girls' faces and they look a little sickly in the video because of it. It's cool and somewhat futuristic, but it doesn't work for the girls at all.

Anyway, onto the rest of the results!

Halloween Party (Halloween Junky Orchestra) - 31%

Fashion Monster (Kyary) - 25%

Uza (AKB48) - 15%

Saraba, Itoshiki Kanashimi-tachi yo (MomoClo) - 9%

Kitagawa Kenji (NMB48) - 6%

WING (PASSPO) - 6%

Erenyan (Ono Erena) - 6%

ENTRY (Sea*A) - 6%

Wee-Tee-Wee-Tee (MomoClo) - 3%

SURVIVE!! (Afilia Saga East) - 3%

Ueika!! (YuiKaori) - 3%

Yi Er! Jiang Shi feay. Hao Hao! Jiang Shi Girl/Brave (9nine) - 0%

This may be the first time that a group or a song has not gained a vote in the poll, but that's how it is, and I know that 9nine's latest song may not be there bet, or it may be infuriating to listen to... who knows, though I quite like it xD

ANYWAY!!! Thank you all once again for participating in this poll and choosing your favourite to win! The vote has spoken, and Morning Musume has been chosen as our overlord for the week! Until next time, I guess ;)

And now we shall move onto the much anticipated...

NEWS OF THE WEEK

Single details and jacket covers to Watanabe Mayu's up-coming third single, titled Hikaru Monotachi,have been revealed! The single is set to release on November 21st, 2012.

There will be five editions for this release, including a Regular and Complete Production Edition. It has been revealed that the Complete Production Edition will include an illustration booklet featuring drawings of Mayuyu by 12 popular artists.

Watanabe commented, “I had various artists draw me. I’ve watched
animes and read mangas by artists like Tanemura Arina-san and
Koge-Donbo*-san since I was small, so it’s really like a dream…” - Tokyohive

It's great to finally see the covers for the single release and to get an idea of what it will be all about. From the covers, I see something similar to Magical Lip KISS in how the covers look and feel. There is definitely a more robotic, Vocaloid effect going on here, a concept which seems to be pretty popular right now.

A short PV for Watanabe Mayu's Hikaru Monotachi has been released, showing this popular Idol in the form of a popular CGI singer like Miku Hatsune!

As well as a song preview, we also get a good look at the video showing off Mayu in her latest PV! Here, we get to see her perform to fans as well as see the video itself take place on popular video sites like Nico Nico Douga and youtube. Of course, this video also contains the ever-growing popularity of the hideous thing called auto-tune, but surprisingly, it works very effectively here and isn't used to the max like other songs use it. It's well placed, and it fits the theme of the svideo style.

It's pretty damn groovy, especially the end of the short PV where Mayuyu encounters an error and crashed. Seriously, watch it and find out what I mean! It's nicely done and I think that when the full version of this PV comes out, it will be evem better!

Amazing, probably Mayu's best work so far, and the song is damn catchy!!!

A PV preview for AKB48's song, Sugar Rush, has been revealed. Sugar Rush will be featured as the ending for the release of Disney's latest release, Wreck-It Ralph. The video was directed by Ninagawa Rika. The senbatsu members for this single are Itano Tomomi, Oshima Yuko, Kashiwagi Yuki, Kawaei Rina, Kojima Haruna, Shinoda Mariko, Shimazaki Haruka, Takahashi Minami, Matsui Jurina, and Watanabe Mayu.

To be completely and bluntly honest, this song does not really stand out or impress me in any way, despite how cute and endearing the PV seems to be. The colourful cuteness really does not fit the blandness of the song itself, or what we hear of the song at least.

Anyway, it's great that AKB48 were able to be a part of such a movie for a company like Disney, as well as to create a cute and yummy looking PV!

The Hello! Project Digital Books model for November is Niigaki Risa, with the Plus model being Hagiwara Mai!

Wait... what? What is this? I didn't know about any digital books!... Either I'm slow, or I just didn't get any updates on the fact that these digital books had previews or whatever it is... DX

Anyway, it's nice to see that there are specific models for the month, with a second 'plus' model for fans so that we get to see two girls featured! It's nice to see one of the older H!P members alongside the youngest H!P kid, it really is~

I honestly didn't expect the girls, all of the girls, to be featured on Weekly Playboy at all, but it seems that the girls are getting a lot more promotion and recognition now with their fresh new faces and the new sound that as really hit the Idol world. This makes me so happy!!! Please excuse me as I go cry into a pillow filled with joy...

On February 23rd, Mano Erina will hold her OTOME LEGEND ~For the Best Friends memorial concert at Nakano Sun Plaza.

It really hits you hard when you realise just how close it is getting to Mano Erina's graduation, and for many fans, this memorial will be one to book because it may be their last chance to see their Idol perform.

I'm really going to miss Erina, and when February comes... I have no idea how I will react...

A digest for Morning Musume's 10ki 1 year anniversary fanclub event has been uploaded to the Up-Front International channel to give everyone a taste of what to expect from this FC event!

From the digest, the performance the girls have given here looks extremely fun, and you can really see just how close these girls are now after being together for a year as Morning Musume's 10th generation. The video is very cute, filled with clips of the girls singing or giving MC's, as well as a cute and heart-warming scene of the girls blowing out candles on a birthday cake and crying happily.

Its very sweet, and it really makes me anticipate the release of the FC DVD! I really want to watch it, guys!!!

MAiDiGi TV have uploaded footage from the Morning Musume and B.L.T release event that took place. The video features all Morning Musume members, including the latest edition, Oda Sakura!

Even though I an't understand what is being said, it's great to see more promotion for Morning Musume and to see the girls interacting with the press. There seems to be quite a lot of focus on Sakura in this video, which is not surprising considering how much coverage she has been getting since her surprise announcement as the only 11th generation member.

It's great to see this continuous amount of promotion that Morning Musume has been getting! It's also amazing to see how confident Sakura is when off stage as well. She is starting to look very promising!

A short performance clip and a comment by Niigaki Risa for her recent stage play, Dietrich, has been released.

The performance clip is extremely short, showing only a small scene where Gaki sings sadly to the crowd. Even though the performance clip itself isn't much, it's great to see something from the play and to see that Gaki is still working hard for the job she chose to do at the end of her Morning Musume career. As well as that, we get a comment with Gaki about the play itself.

For any Gaki fan, this is a must see, no matter how small the clips may be.

Sea*A will be holding a mini-live event to celebrate the release of their 4th single, Entry!, on November 15th 2012 at Tokyo Dome City, Laqua Garden Stage at 5:30pm. JAM will be the opening act. Admission is free, and there will also be a handshake event.

This is great news for the Sea*A fans, as it means a chance to see your cute Anime-loving Idols live for free, and to also have a chance to shake their hands and talk to the girls! This will be a great little promotion strategy for girls as well, just like any free mini-event, and hopefully all fans in the area can go to see the girls and have a chance to talk to them a little bit as well as hear these girls perform live!

Double Sea*A dosage! Who knew that they had a mini-album? I didn't! Well, isn't this surprising... they kinda released it on November 2nd, which has surprised me! Sea*A, you're hiding things from me... ; A;

The mini-album, titled We are DREAMSHOOTERS!!, of course contains anime songs, including a few cover songs from hit anime series! Here is the track list for you to all have a look at!

The songs include English, Chinese and Japanese versions, which is a great mix, and the mini-album itself has officially been released in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. It is an international release, however it is not available in Japan, which I do find quite strange...

Anyway, this is a happy and surprising release from the Sea*A girls! It's great to see that they are continuing their Idol career as well as covering such memorable anime songs from beloved TV series! Look forward to this release guys, if you can grab hold of it!

There is a new singer coming onto the Idol scene, this time she is in the form of 17 year old popular Gyaru model Shiina Hikari, who will be releasing her debut single Shinryaku Pikarin Densetsu☆ under Avex. She will debut under the name 'Shiina Pikarin' and will represent teen culture. The concept of her debut single is 'Pikarin from the Underworld', with the title track being produced HachioujiP, the producer of Vocaloid.

'Pikarin' is Hikari's pet name, and despite her cute looks, she loves anime and cosplay and is known for her'Wota-kei Gyaru model' character, something which is unique as many gyaru models do not claim to be wota or otaku's.

Seeing the news of another model debuting as a singer is exciting, considering how popular it has become for models to turn into Idols. Ever since Kyarypamyupamyu's debut, many other models have followed suit and are now making names for themselves. Hopefully the same will apply for Pikarin, who looks very ero-kawaii and appealing.

Hopefully everyone looks forward to her debut, because I certainly am!!!

A Radio preview for Berryz Kobou's up-coming single, titled WANT! has been released for us all to listen to, so check it out!

From the good sample of the song we get in the video, we can hear very clearly what this song sounds like, and honestly... I'm not impressed, but that's just me. I know that plenty of people will enjoy this song, because it has that same 'cool' dance sound that One Two Three has, as well as the use of the hellish auto-tune. UFP, I know that Risako sucks as a singer, but the rest of the girls are awesome. Lay off the auto-tune on this group, okay?

The Hello! Pro Kenshuusei have released their single, titled Kanojo ni Naritai!!! which features all of the current Kenshuusei. This is their first original single.

For any fans of the H!P Kenshuusei, this is a must-listen-to song because it is their very own! This also proves just how much UFP and Hello! Project are growing in promotion, because before this may have never happened for the trainee's of H!P at all. Now though, the girls have their own concerts, they participate in stage plays, movies and are just promoted so much better and receive a lot more recognition for their hard work than they used to. It's amazing to see that these girls have a solid single release, one which is sold at concert venues for their fans.

This is a very cute and fun song, and I really like the sound of it. Some fans liken it to the sound of S/mileage's Uchoten Love, which I totally agree with, but there is more auto-tune and an 8-bit quality to the instrumental.

It's adorable, check it out and fall in love! Hopefully a PV will come along with it, because that would be amazing!

Nogizaka46 will be releasing their 4th single, titled Seifuku no Mannequin on December 19th 2012. It is described as a danceable number that shows a new side to the girls.

You know what? I honestly thought (and truly hoped) that these girls had disappeared off the face of the earth, never to be heard from again...

I'm not so lucky, it seems, and the description of the song is pretty laughable. If it's anything like their previous bland singles, barring that bike one, then I won't be impressed. Also, leave the cheap, tacky and ugly costumes in the garbage can, and use the title as the theme of your stupid single this time!

The covers to S/mileage's up-coming single, Samui Ne, have been released through Amazon. The covers show the girls in various shots with cute smiles or serious faces. Which one is your favourite?

To me, the covers really don't reflect the seriousness of the song, especially Limited D. The ones that I think suits the tone the most have to be the Regular Edition and Limited A, which have a more Christmassy look and appeal to them, as well as a more toned down look. The others, in my opinion, are pretty cheesy and cheap.

A digest for Mano Erina's Friends Bus Party Volume 3 has been released, showing us all we need to expect from this DVD as well as showing us the amazing support from Mano's dedicated fans.

If I'm not mistaken, this may be Mano's final bus tour as a member of Hello! Project, so for many fans and Mano herself, this will be a very emotional bus tour filled with plenty of love and warmth from Mano's devoted fans. For anyone who missed the tour, this will be a must-have DVD, so definitely check out the digest and see if you want it!

The covers to Hello! Projects Petit Best 13 have been released. There will be a CD and a DVD release, with both including a The Matenrou Show Type 0 which includes Niigaki Risa, Takahashi Ai, Michishige Sayumi, Tanaka Reina and Mitsui Aika.

The covers are extremely simple, and honestly not that impressive... however, they seem well-layed out, I guess...

The Single V cover to Samui Ne by S/mileage has been released, showing a gentler side to the girls with a more sincere look and feel to the cover.

I prefer this cover over the other covers for this single, it looks a lot nicer and very gentle whilst also showing a more sincere side to the girls. It isn't gawdy like some of the other covers are, and really gives you this calm feeling. It's very cute...

And I like how I can tell what they have done via photoshop to achieve this look, because I love the use of Outer Glow as well, H!P ;D

Eri Kitamura has released a PV preview for her up-coming single, Destiny, which will be released on November 7th.

Looking on Kawaii Girl Japan's English site helps sometimes, you know, because I seem to have found a childhood voice actress who's voice I liked a lot. This woman was in fact the voice of Seira from Mermaid Melody, and sang the second season opening theme Before the Moment, a song I love a lot, as well as Beautiful Wish, another song I adored once upon a time when I was a hardcore anime/mermaid fan.

What a small world... Oh, and this PV looks awesome too, very fantasy/fairytale-eque. I want her clothes. I want her voice!!!

And that is all that I have for you this week! Plenty of Idol news right at your doorstep, once a week on a Tueday (sometimes a Wednesday if I have no time on a Tuesday), so please stay tuned for more Idol love, news and chaos with next weeks Digest!

What's been the highlight of your Idol-fueled week, and what has been your favourite video?

I meant it more as a joke in this sense. The thing I hate about Risako's voice is just how she 'warbles' when she is trying to do a vibrato. I actually quite like her voice other than that, but in the case of my Digests, I generally joke...